A couple of months ago, Shavlik Randolph was The Man . . . with the Foshan Long Lions. Having been exiled to China after failing to make the lottery-bound Washington Wizards in training camp, he was quite literally miles away from his dream job.

On Sunday, even with Kevin Garnett back from an injury, he was the first big man off the bench for the Celtics, a club preparing for the NBA playoffs.

As they say in Beijing, vive la difference.

But while the 180-degree career turn is enough to give a player whiplash, don’t hold your breath waiting for Shavlik Randolph to get all caught up in the hoopla. He can turn on his radio and hear folks saying he’s the find of the year, a diamond in the rough who needs more playing time.

The 6-foot-10 interior agitator knows better, however. You may think of Randolph as a kid, but he’s 29 and has spent parts of six seasons in the NBA. This is easily his best campaign, with averages of 5.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in just 13.1 minutes a game.

But he’s not about to rest on his laurels, however modest and/or pleasantly surprising.

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no,” Randolph said. “Definitely not, because you’re only as good as your last game. I’m not the kind of player who can even think about relaxing. I’m not really gifted enough or talented enough to relax and still go out there and perform. Some guys are, but I’m not. And, look, this can all change in any game. Washington played big (in Sunday’s win by the Celtics), so we needed size. Maybe that got me more time. But I’m going to be ready whatever my role is.